Jamestown 2007: Money Talks

The U.S. mint unveiled the final designs for commemorative coins honoring Jamestown's 400th anniversary.

Jamestown's three ships, its three cultures and its only still-standing building will appear on two commemorative coins produced by the U.S. Mint in honor of the settlement's 400th anniversary.

FOR THE RECORD - Published correction ran Wednesday, June 21, 2006.In Saturday's Money & Work section, the commemorative coins for Jamestown's 400th anniversary were described incorrectly. The front of each coin is the face, while the back is the tail. (Text corrected.)

The mint on Friday unveiled final designs for the Jamestown coins, which will be a silver dollar and a $5 gold coin that are U.S. legal tender but priced for collectors.

The coins will provide a big chunk of change to Jamestown 2007 organizers and the agencies that run Historic Jamestowne and Jamestown Settlement.

A law authorizing the coins calls for the production of up to 500,000 silver dollars and 100,000 gold coins, along with a $10 surcharge on the silver dollars and $35 surcharge on the gold coins.

So if all of the coins are produced and sold, the different Jamestown-related groups could split $8.5 million.

CULTURES COLLIDED

The ships that brought English settlers to Virginia in 1607 -- the Godspeed, the Discovery and the Susan Constant -- will appear on the silver dollar's tails side.

Its heads side will feature an African woman, an English colonist and an American Indian, representing the three cultures that collided at Jamestown.

Jamestown Church's tower, the only 17th-century building still standing at Jamestown, stars in the final design for the $5 gold coin's tails side.

On its heads side, the coin will feature Capt. John Smith greeting an American Indian who is holding a bag of corn.Friday's unveiling ends a 22-month process to arrive at final designs.

Input came from organizers of the Jamestown 2007 commemoration, the National Park Service, two federal commissions and Treasury Secretary John Snow.

The process began with legislation introduced by U.S. Sen. John Warner, R-Va., and U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Davis, R-Gloucester.

Exact prices for the commemorative coins are not yet determined, a mint spokeswoman said.

Earlier this year, the mint estimated the silver dollar would sell for $35 to $39, while the gold coin would sell for more than $200.

It's also still unclear exactly when the coins will go on sale.

The mint spokeswoman said that's likely to be in the first quarter of next year.

ORDERING COINS

The mint will take orders through its toll-free number, 800-USA-MINT, and its Web site, www.usmint.gov, but it's currently not taking orders for the Jamestown coins, she said.

The four final designs -- chosen out of 98 designs prepared by the mint's sculptors and engravers -- were unveiled Friday in Philadelphia as part of a ceremony welcoming the new Godspeed replica ship.

Penn's Landing in Philadelphia is the Godspeed's third stop on its six-port tour this summer to promote Jamestown 2007, an 18-month series of events. *

CARE FOR A COIN?

* Designed for collectors, the two new Jamestown coins likely will go on sale in the first quarter of 2007.

* The silver dollar could cost $35 to $39. The $5 gold coin could cost more than $200.

* The U.S. Mint will take orders through its toll-free number, 800-USA-MINT, and its Web site, www.usmint.gov, but it's not yet taking orders for the Jamestown coins.